Fruit cutting device



Dec. 24, 1940. '2,226,372 A v @UIT CUTTING 'nEvrcEfk-"I l l Filedreb.. 25,71939 I INVENTQR. 10 J f Andrew' fraud/zlf @Y (C2. WM

. Xda ATTORNE Patented Deer-24, 154e v Umran- Application February 23, 1929, SerialNolZ'lQSZ- I fr(ci. 14e- 124),

consequence thefruit was not i. reduced. to the kfiner particles desiredtoI extract-` therefromall the Juices and flavors. 1; 15 f For this purpose, my-.inventionconsists of an improved knifeofv 'rotary type which will encounter as manyof the fruit particles y:asfpossible and subject themto a cutting actionfthe Y v improved knife being in the form oi.'l a loop .with sharp cutting edges at theffront part thereof, and the invention consists -also-in providing the container with interior ridges which form pockets for the reception of' the fruit toV be cut,"so ythat when the knifeapproaches. such pockets and the 'fruit objects thereinicontained, the knifewillact upon the fruitfwhile theffruit is being resisted in its inovenrientbythe said abutments forming such pockets. Y The invention will be more fully described hereinafter, embodiments the-reo!l shown in the drawing-and the invention will be inallypointedout in the claims.A l w. 1-

In .the accompanying drawing: Figure 1- isa sectional plansviewkof the lower part of a container such asused in'devic'es'of this kind, taken on line I-I of Figure 2;; Y j Figure 2 is-afce'ntral vertical section off-Figure l taken on line 2 2" of Figure l, theupper part of the .container beingbroken away as forming vno 40. partk of` the' invention; as also the lower part of the motor; l' i FigureV 3 is a perspective view of the improved knife of ldouble looped shape sharpened? atits .edges in :the'directio'n of the movement "ofthe knife; U Figure 4 isa vertical section takenv on lined-4 of Figure 3 showingthedouble beveledj'ed'ges of [the knifearranged in loop, form .as shown in Figure 3; andv l. g, l f

Figure 5 is a section. of an improvedpacking -and.bearing. f f .f

Similar 'characters of reference indicate, corresponding parts throughout the V'various views. 55 Referring toy the drawingand more ,particularly to Figure 2, indeviceslofthiskind which are known,y they known` motor .I0 operates'v arota'ry shaft II uponth'e upper en d' of whichfa knifeis secured.v shaftv I I. extends from the i'notorjiilv upwardly .and through the bottomy of` the casing or container I2, there being a water-tight connectionA in the. bottom' of the'container in order to-4 prevent anyv liquids from the interior of the container I2 passing through the `bottom there'- OLand-into 4the motorllilly Fr'uitis suppliedto 10 `r theinter'ior oi' the container I2, suchv asworanges,

lemons, pineapples, orl the like; and' the rotation of,y the motor due "to vthe operation ofa push' 1 button switch or the'like-causes the' knife to ro'- .ftate and the fruitis cut .up 'into small particles, f15f andtliereby the liquid inthe container may ex- 'tract from the fruit. its. Juices as 4also extract the Preferably, "arl ornamental, casing l| 3 is. pro- 2o vided, which ex'tendsfrom the lower part of the container I2 -to'thelower' part of. the motor so as to hide the'rnotorfan'dpresent, when finished `in chrome o rvthelilre,A a pleasing'appearance. In Figurez this leasingy I3. is connectedv at I5 with 25 a cup-shaped member I 4 of thegsizefandconfiguration ofthelowerpart of theontainer I2.

These parts `are generally known, atleast they forrn'no specific feature of thelpresentinvention. 1 A lso,3the connection betweenthemotor'and the 30 knife shaft I I l'forms no p art of rthis invention'and may. be modified as deSired, it being noted that .in theembodimentthe coritalirierIZhas an inwardly extending bottom member .I6 providing a cavity` Il. in the bottom^f0f thev container I2 SliY v intovvhichA some of the connectiohsybetween the shaft II andthe motor fIIlmay befdisposed vso ,v

of the invention, it-.wil1wn`ot be described'in furtherdetail.v f

The improved .knife consistsin aV strip ofmetal folded twice back upon itselfto form loops. 'This is fclearly seenv in *Figurey 2, asalso, in theperspective view of Figure 43.-'I'he knife 2 II is formed of a strip of sheet metal havingitsend 2l on the top of the knife. Thereupon, this `end 60 Vextends in loop formto form the first loop 22,

and then extends .into a ilatlorhorizontal portion .23 underneath. the end .2I `and is then bent.

into a second .loop 24 extending', upwardly" with'y the subcaliber stem 21 of the shaft II., This subcaliber stem 21 is screw-threaded and engages a rotatable cap 2l with an interior screw-thread which by rotation locks the superimposed layers of the knife against the washer 28 resting upon the cap 30 of the bearing member Il. The cap` 3l is rotatable with the shaft II and rests upon the upper part of the member It. Each of the loops 22 and 24 of the knife 2l have the metal of the loops narrowed so that the narrowest portion of the metal is approximately at the points 32 and 33.

In the knife shown in Figure 3, the front part of the loop 22 is provided with a cutting edge $4 that extends the length of the metal which forms the loop, and the loop 24 is,'provided with its cutting edges li all along the metal which forms the loop 2l, and in this case the cutting edge is at the rear of the knife. 'Ihe cutting edge 34 being at the front of the loop 22 of the knife 2l, and the cutting edge 33 being at the rear of the loop Il of the knife 2l, both cutting edges act to cut while the cutting edges present them-y selves tothe articles to be cut in the forward direction, this being due to the fact that the knife 20 rotates in respect to the vertical axis of the opcnins 2l.

In the container I2 at the interior thereof there are arranged three abutments, l1, 3l and 39, which extend laterally and radially inwardly of the inner wall 4I of the container I2. By thus extending substantially at right angles inwardly and preferably formed integrally 'with the container, the container being preferably of glass, these abutments I1, 3U and 3! form pockets 31a, 38a and 19a, into which pockets, due to the rotation of the knife which brings about the rotation of the entire mixture in a manner to form a central vortex, theheavier peels of the fruit descend toward the bottom of the container, and when they lodge, due to the rotation of the mixture, In these pockets 31a, 38a and 39a, they present themselve alongside of these abutments and the abutments resist the movements of these fruit members so that when the rapidly rotating knife arrives at any particular abutment holding such fruit members in their pockets, the knife may quickly pass through the fruit members and thereby sever the same. These abutments extend from the lowerrnost portion of the container I2, namely, the part I6 upwardly a certain distance about one-eighth of the height of the container, and when thus extending upwardly they taper from their widest part to their narrowest part at their top. said arrangement being indicated by the tapering line Il in Figure 2. The inclined walls of these abutments permit the fruit members to descend when-they are under the action of gravity, having then a greater force than the forces causing the vortex, and by their gradual descent along this inclined wall they have a tendency to become pocketed as before described. y

'Ihe speed of these knives is considerable, and as the mixture is rotated by such knives forming a vortex as described, if the abutments were absent the velocity of the rotating Afruit members would be almost equal to the velocity of the knives, and thus no resistance of the fruit members to the knives would be presented, .but by the presence of the pockets and the tapering shape of the abutments together with the other inwardly extendinl portion, and the. formation of the pockets with the wall ofthe container, the partially cut up members of thefruit present themselves in a positionrelatively stationary to the rotating knife and thereby very efficient cutting actions can take place.

In the embodiment, I have shown three such abutments, but it is clear that these can be more or less, and the inclined shape can also be varied. `the essential feature being to present a stationary abutment to form al pocket into which the fruit members can aggregate so that the fruit members are resisted from partaking of a rotary movement, and being relatively stationary may be quickly and emclently cut by the rotating knives.

It willbe noted that the knife is, bent at an angle to present a deilecting surface. 'This defiecting surface is indicated by a in Figure 3, and it acts very much like a turbine blade, in that when it encounters any obieot it thrusts that object outwardly against the wall of the container.

As it is believed that the abutmentsare novel in the manner shown in the drawing and heretofore described, a different form vof knife than that shown in Figure 3 may be used in cooperation with such abutments, though it is preferable to use a knife such as shown in Figure 3 which has a peripheral end substantially vertical or inclined to the vertical so as to cooperate with the inclined surface of the abutment. It will be noted in Figure 2 that the inclined surface 4I, if extended further-inwardly, would form a tangent with the curved loop of the knife, and the curvature of the loop at this part is such as to present as large a surface of the cutting edge as is possible so that as large pieces of fruit members can be cut as may be desired. This more or less flattened end of the loop is indicated by 43.

The motor III is provided with its shaft IIla, and has an exterior casing Ilib. Upon the casing Iiib lis a collar Ill which is circumferentially round at its exterior and is screw-threaded, as shown by BIr at its interior. This collariii is secured to the casing I0b by screws 52. Engaging the screw threads ll is a member 5I which has screw threads M. This member has beveled walls 55 and also has a plurality of recesses, six in number, which are radially disposed, such recesses being indicated by BB. 'I'he member has a central bore 51. A sleeve is secured to the shaft IIia by set screws 5I, this sleeve having at its upper end a square-shaped shank 59. This square-shaped shank 58 is engaged by an inverted cup member 60 which is provided with eight interior extending projections radially disposed and equally distant apart. This inverted cup member 60 is secured to or forms an integral part with the shaft I I. A mechanical engagement between the four corners ofthe shank 59 with four of the eight spaces between the projections of the cup member Eli may be readily had. The shaft II has surrounding it the member I9 which is provided with screw threads 6I engaging interior screw threads i2 which are part of a collar 63, to which collar are fastened two pins M, which pins vare held to the collar by screw threads and which pins extend .below the collar and into two of the six spaces between the projections 5. Within the member I8 and adjacent the shaft II is a packing and bearing device which is generally indicated by B5, Vand more particularly shown in Figure 5. The member I8 has aninterior bore as indicated by the line 66, and within this bore 68 is first placed a lower bronze bearing i1 which has an interior son orf-summa uw diameterof the shaft il, about. 'oneone` thousandth .of an inch clearance. yUpon this` bearing ili i of f bronze there are placed Vfovur super- 1 imposed leather washersllmhaving interior bores Y offgfdi'ameter'slightly less than the dia'iriet'erv of ltheahaft Il.

the shaft ii, or four one-thousandths minus the rdiameter of the shaft. Upon these leather washers 08 there is placed a bronze bearing member t! substantially the same as the bronze layer l1. Bypressing. these two bearing layers "and against each other, the leather washers t. are squeezed and pressed together against each other tightly, and thereby their interior portions forming the interior bore are tightly lpressed against These leather washers are' more or less saturated with oil so as to make them flexible andyleldable and are therefore easily worked by the pressure described so as to give a particularly tight fit to prevent any liquid from passing along the shaft il to the exterior thereof. It is the l particular object of this packing to prevent any fr leakage of liquid downwardly into the motor.

. Washers 12" and 'il are made of fiber or cataiin.

It will be noted that as the container Il, by `V virtue of its inward flange member II, has the opening formed between the flanges vI6` closed b y the member it, with the member Il and the Vcollar 63 locking against the flange it, the member i8 with the shaft Ii, cap Iii, knife 2l,button 28, together with the collar I3, all form partof the container itself when these parts are assembled. The member l with the collar It form part of the motor, since they are connected therewith by the screws '52. It will therefore be seen that a i very simpleassembly `means is provided, in that a connection is made between the shank having the four corners of the square engaging with the correspondingy four corners of the eight-cornered inverted cup I0, and the pins t4 engaging the recessesbetween the projections Si bring about by them'erey entrance of these parts, in respect to each other. a quick assembly of the parts. Hence,

it is possible to lassemble the motor with the member which hold the cupshaped part il with the container, to the bottom of vwhich hasvbeen applied the parts Il, etc., as hereinabove described. By having two pins adapted to engage two. of six recesses, and having four corners of the lshank adapted to engage fourof the eight recesses of the cup 60, the mere bringing of the parts together vertically brings about an assembly of parts. The

connections of the pins il and the shank I I, as described, Aby mere vertical shifting of the parts relative -to each other, simplifies the assembly. e

etables, meats, peanuts, nuts, etc.

I have described anfembodiment of my invention, but it will be `'clear that changes may bey made within theY principle of the invention described without departing from thescope of the subjoined claims. f

Iclaim:

1. 'In a cutting device having a main shaft,

a stationary member having radial said member having disposed pins f extending"therefrom-adaptedtoenga'ge'theradial `recesses of the rst member, and a container shaft movable ywithinV the second member having its lower end adapted toloosely enage va main shaft vexterior ofthe container, whereby on a longitudinal shifting of the container with its container shaft and second member into engagement with ythemain shaft, thev pins ofthe second'member f, engage within the recesses of the first member to preventL the container from'rotating, longitudinaly shifting m the opposite direction` dismissing the containershgaft from the main shaft'and the pins yfrom the recesses.

. 2.*In a cutting Vdevice having a cylindrical container,the combination of` inwardly disposed abutments extending inwardly .of the inner lwalls of the container and inclined upwardly and outward- .1y from the bottom ofthe container and a rotatable loop shaped knife rotating around the axis of the container symmetrically with saidabutrnents and closely adjacent the innermost portionsv of the abutments, said abutments forming pockets with the inner walls of the container for ythe reception of products to be cut to hold, the sameirelatively' so,

to the rotating knife, a portion' of the knife being bent to form a deilectingsuri'aceto project said products outwardly the'reirom,k towards aside oi'` thecontaine.

3. In a.V cutting device, a knifeconsisting of a 5,7

one-piece strip of metal bent into two loops with the ends of the strip overlapping and superimposed upon the central portion of the strip, with a cutting edge only at the front of one loop and'a cutl ting edge only at the rear of the other loop, andl 'having registering openings in the central portion and ends for the passage of a'rotatable shaft.

4. In a cutting device, a knife consisting ofy a one-piece strip of metal bent intotwofloops with the ends of ythe strip overlapping and superim' posed upon the central portiony of the strip with a.k

cutting edge only at the front of one loop and a cutting edge only at the rear of the other loOp, and n having registering yopenings in the-:central'portion and ends for the passage of a rotatable shaft, v

a portion of veach loop being bent to form a. deilecting surface to project products 1outwardiy therefrom.

5. In a cutting device, a knife consisting ors one-piece strip of metal bent into two loops with the ends ofthe strip overlapping-andysuperixnposed upon the central portion Vofthe strip with a cutting edge only at the front of one loop and a;

The invention also is applicable for use with veg. y msed pon the central n1131011 0f the.' .strprwth' a cutting edge only at the front of one Y*loop anda cutting edge only at the rearvofifthe other loop, and having registering openings in the* central to project said products outwardly therefrom. f

In e. ctting device, the combination of n motor; a vertically disposed shaft in said motor, a `cylindrical casing for the motor out of which said shaftextends, a, collar on the casing having a,

bore for said shaft, a container on the collar hsving a bore for the shaft, said shaft extending throuzhthe bore sind into the containenand a. looped knife on the shaft extending downwardly from the wp of the shalt and into the lower part of the container between the shaft and the cylindricairwalls oi' the container.

ANDREWV CRAVARITIS. 

